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. Women’s Place

EXPLODING

By KERRY McCUAIG

“You've come a long way
baby”’. It’s splashed across a full
color ad, cleverly cashing in on
the reader’s pride. From being
down on our hands and knees
scrubbing floors we can now kick
up our heels and smile.

The problem is it just isn’t true.
It’s another of the new myths
cropping up around women’s
place in society. These new
myths coupled with the old ones
(that die hard) are serious obsta-
cles to tackling the inequalities
that face women.

One current myth is that the
situation of women has greatly
improved in the last few years.
After all we have equal pay laws,
affirmative action programs,
quota ceilings on female enrol-
ment in professional schools are
gone, women are entering the

’ work force in greater numbers. -

Nobody really discriminates
against women anymore, do
they? Or do they ...?
First, women are entering the
work force because they have to.
Times are bad. Galloping inflation
means it now takes two salaries to
maintain a family. Swelled
unemployment rolls mean com-
panies can set the wages they pay
their workers. Women still form
classic cheap labor reserve
and they are funnelled into dead-

end clerical and sefvice jobs.

Every province, and the federal
overnment, has some form of
equal pay laws. However the
onus is on the woman to prove her
job is covered by the legislation
and that she is in fact being dis-
criminated against. It’s her
inst the company and the pos-
sibility of harassment and dismis-
sal is very real.

How well have the laws work-
ed? Women today average 52.4%
of men’s earnings, that’s down
from 55% in 1974.

Unions can and do make a sub-
stantial contribution to narrowing
the wage gap between men and
women. The difficulty here is that
the majority of women are not or-
ganized. Only 14.5% are in
unions, compared to the national
average of -33%. Efforts being
made to bring women workers
into the trade unions are an essen-
tial step in winning equal pay.

Little wonder that moves to
legislatively strengthen equal pay
for work of equal value have met
with such strenuous opposition.
To really tackle this question
would shake the foundations of
some very powerful institutions in
this country. What would happen
if nurses for example, were able
to compare the value of their
work with that of doctors?

In the

True there are no written ceil-
ings on female attendance at the
post-secondary level. However,
the higher the educational level
the fewer women are found, and
women hold only 8% of the man-
agerial and professional positions
in the job market.

Aside for corporate policy
which prevents women from en-
tering these fields the woman her-
self is socially ill-equipped. This
isn’t surprising when one consid-
ers the educational system is rid-
dled with sexist textbooks and at-

titudes. The media is a book’in —

itself on the disgusting, demean-
ing way it portrays women as in
the ad quoted above. All this
“takes its toll on women’s self-
esteem.

A 1977 Ottawa study of high
school students indicated that
50% of the girls felt their main role

_ “assertiveness,

the myths

in life was to be a wife and
mother. Work was something to
keep you going until Mr. Right
came along.

Affirmative action programs
for the white collar worker. face
several road blocks. Women are
still hired as secretaries while men
are hired as management
trainees. Routine psychological
testing which reveals
aggressiveness
and independence’ may be an
asset for an applicant named John
but not necessarily for one named
Mary.

Even in jobs which are tradi-
tionally dominated by women,

_ menare the principals, inspectors

and supervisors, while women
are the teachers, nurses and case
workers. For women who make it
into the traditionally male occu-
pations they still earn-less and
continue to face discrimination
from colleagues and those who
use their services. How often
have you heard even women
say ... ‘‘I’d never go to a woman
doctor’ or ‘‘Why would you hire
a woman plumber?”’

Mrs. Consumer
Another dangerous myth is:
she who rules the market place
rules the country. Because

Women in Socialism

LL

Women in socialism are guaranteed by the constitutions of their countries to equality in education and
the work force and the right toa job. To facilitate the role they play as mothers there are extensive child
care programs, paid maternity leave and job security. Their right to develop to their full potential is
indicated by their numbers in the political, scientific, medical, technical, cultural and sports fields.

‘women do the majority of shop-

ping for their families they come
under criticism for not using this
‘economic clout’’. If you don’t
want additives in foods, don’t buy
them. If meat is too expensive
boycott it.

But how much power does the
hurried shopper actually have
when she stops off at the super-
market on her way home. Can her
power be compared to that of a
corporation who owns, controls
and manipulates the market
place? <<

Consumer rights groups do
have their effect in exposing and
lobbying against over-priced or
dangerous items. But for the
woman who has just finished a
day’s work and then must main-
tain a home and mother children,
there isn’t time left to read labels
or comparison shop let alone join
a consumer’s rights group.

Moves by the labor and farm-
ers’ movement to bring the food
monopolies under democratic
control will give consumers the
input they need in the market-
place.

A third myth, and this is an old
but lingering one, is that a woman
will always have a man around to
support her. This is probably the
most debilitating because it is on
this premise that our laws are
formulated.

Although most Canadian
women marry, very few maintain
that state for the rest of their lives.
Out of 100 women, 26 will live
with their husbands until death,
15 will separate or divorce and 53
will become widows.

Taking Care Of You

Marriage is no guarantee
against poverty. Over 53% of
married working women have
spouses who earn under $8,000 a
year. A couple’s combined in-
come may allow them to live com-
fortably, but with the loss of one
income through unemployment,
sickness or the birth of a child the
family’s standard of living quickly
plummets.

Yet our laws assume that a man
alone should be able to support
his family. This is reflected in cuts
in unemployment insurance

benefits which have seriously res-
tricted the eligibility of married
women particularly if they are
pregnant.

Notwithstanding the recent
round of matrimonial property
law reforms, marriage is not a
relationship of economic equals.
Although a husband is legally re-
sponsible for his wife's basic
economic needs, with the excep-
tion of Manitoba a man is not re-
quired to give his wife any cash at
all. If the husband is generous all
is fine, if not, a married woman
can be financially destitute what-
ever her husband's income.

If Marriage Fails

If a marriage fails, and 28 out of
100 do, the woman, particularly if
she has children, is likely to end
up living in poverty. In spite of all
the changes in family law no pro-
vincial law entitles women to half
of all the assets acquired during
marriage. As well as not getting
her fair share of property, di-
vorced women seldom receive
adequate alimony or child main-
tenance payments. In addition,
more than half the court-ordered
payments are never made and of
those that are the median is only
$1,350 a year.

If a. single mother without
financial resources cannot take an
outside job her only recourse is
welfare. Welfare has two things in
common everywhere in Canada.
It is inadequate and it is humiliat-
ing; =

The plight of single mothers has
become a rallying call for the
women’s movement as welfare
rights groups insist that these
‘women be given the help they
need without discrimination.

Even women who were
financially comfortable while
married may quickly become
poor once widowed. It is very dif-
ficult for women to prepare inde-
pendently for retirement. The
Canada Pension Plan excludes
housewives from participating.
Even those women who work
outside the home are discrimi-
nated against. Payments are cal-
culated on 25% of average earn-
ings over the number of years a
person could have been working
between the ages of 18 and 65.
Time out to rear children dramat-
ically shrinks benefits.

Private plans only benefit con-
sistent, workers and all part-time
workers, 70% of whom are
women are ineligible. Few hus-
bands have plans with the
employers which continue cover-
age to the surviving wife.

The old age pension even with
income supplements admin-
istered by the province leave 66%
of all widows over 65 living below
the poverty line.

This article just touches the tip
of institutionalized and social dis-
crimination. These inequalities
will only be overcome when
women have full and ‘equal access
to economic life. Such access will
have to provide for the special
role women play as mothers.

Not to degenerate the
accomplishments made by the
working-class movement to gain
equality for women, a cursory
view of the facts indicate we still
have a long way to go.

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—MARCH 14, 1980—Page 7